Catalogs Blog – mail order catalogs

September 29, 2010

Essentials For a Corporate Catalog Design

Surinder Sharma asked:




To come up with the best designs for your catalog one should follow some simple rules. Certain rules will help in making your corporate catalog design look outrageous and perfect.

1. Appeal to customer’s desire

Most of the time people buy something because they want to fulfill their want rather than need. They feel more satisfied on spending something they want. Therefore, it is essential to create a desire to buy. One needs to show the customer the kind of lifestyle they can attain and hence the product can be sold more. Also it is essential to pay attention to the text and copy, it should not be only describing the product in detail, but also should guide the reader how this would be helpful in achieving their desired lifestyle.

2. Design for the target audience

There is no other way out, one should design catalogue in a manner that it should appeal to the customers. It’s important to make a style of your catalog, so one should be very careful about who is our target audience. For example one should create different look for young people and different for older people. One should not forget, that first impressions last, so it is important to keep up with the design to make it most attractive.

3. Use of photos

It is quite understandable that one needs to cut the expenses while creating a catalog ant the product photo is the only place where clients cutback first and it hinders their success badly every time.
A great photo can help you to reach success immediately but a poor photo can influence a customer even not to buy your product. So it’s good to show fewer products on fewer pages to save on printing rather than cutting your sales with poor photos.

4. Set central items on the outside ends of the page

It is important to put out the most appealing products at the outside page on the top corners. As the reader naturally looks at the top right first then moves across the page to the other side. If they couldn’t notice anything convincing they’ll turn over the page.

5. Prospects to cross sell

Make an advantage of cross selling in your catalog; one can do this easily in the product copy or with call-outs, or by placing companion products together on the page.

6. Keep consistency in style and limiting the numbers. Keep your catalog simple

For consistency don’t use more than 3 fonts throughout your catalog. Try to choose the fonts which are easy to read and above that the style should match the lifestyle you aspire to express Moreover, keep the text spacing and placement next to images consistent. The same style of text should be consistent for common elements such as product name, product description, etc. Most customers like the catalogs which are simple, so don’t even over designed your catalog.

7. Use the consistent style in your issues to fortify your brand identity

Once you have established a good look, keep it for several and even if you plan to change, do it in small increments.

8. Explore the results

It’s equally important to analyze your profit results. By this analysis you can calculate the total cost of the catalog.

9. Fabricate for economy

Formats such as a standard full-size, slim-jim or digest-size catalog are the most economical catalog designs to print and mail.

Christine

September 27, 2010

The Most Affordable Catalog Strategy – One-Page Catalogs

Kaye Marks asked:




Cheap catalog printing is synonymous with the one paper or one page catalog. Catalog printing has come to a point these days where large full color catalogs has become a risky venture that simple and cheaper options are always preferred.

That is why more and more shops have started in cheap catalog printing using the simple one page catalog as their primary tool. These types of catalogs offer several significant advantages that make them an economical choice in these trying times.

What is a one-page catalog?

- A one-page catalog is basically what its name says. It amounts to just one single page or paper where you print a catalog of your products or services. Typically, you will have all your products listed in a one-page catalog with small pictures for people to see.

Sometimes, a back-to-back printing of the one page catalog helps in making more space for all the products or services that a shop may have. In most cases, shops use one-page catalogs at the shop location itself so that people can browse more easily for products. However, sometimes a once page catalog is also given away like a flyer or mailed to customers like a usual color catalog.

Why it works?
One-page- catalogs work because it is easy to understand and figure them out. There are no fancy covers, tables of contents and other page sections. It is basically a list of what is for sale, pure and very simple. Customers really appreciate the directness of this approach and it makes this kind of catalog very useful and convenient. Therefore, it is really well worth the investment to get that kind of customer satisfaction.

How cheap is it?
- For your side, printing catalogs with only one page can be a nice and very cheap investment as well. Since you will only print on one piece of paper per catalog, with one page or back-to-back printing, you are virtually printing just one page for every catalog that you want. This will save you hundreds of dollars probably amounting to only 20% of what a normal catalog would cost. Therefore, for those shops with a low budget, one-page catalogs are the best and cheapest option.

Easily Designed:
- Besides being cheap though, these kinds of catalogs can easily be designed. Unlike booklets or full catalogs with their multiple pages and covers, one-page catalogs just needs to have one to two pages in a good layout. Even a novice can do a design just by entering in data and then laying them down in a grid format. You will not even have to hire a graphic artist for it. You can just lay it out yourself.

Easily Printed:
- Lastly, since one page catalogs only are printed in one piece of paper, the catalog printing process for this is quite easily. It is almost like a flier in a way. You can actually color photocopy your own catalog work printing on both sides, and you can just use an online printing service to do it for you. Either way the design printing phase itself should be easily accomplished and you should not expect any kind of untoward glitch.

So go ahead, try this idea out. It never hurts to try new things, and this may be your chance to have a cheaper abut more effective marketing catalog.

Julia

Camping Equipment Catalogs – Useful Boon To Beginners

Abhishek Agarwal asked:




When buying things for a camping trip, camping equipment catalogs are proven useful and efficient especially when you don’t have time to go on a store.. Usually camp equipment catalogs are printed for it for easy viewing purpose. The Camping Equipment Catalogs is certainly aimed at a camping market that is young and just starting. Today these catalog have every item that you can possibly think of that is related to camping. The glossy and bulky catalogs are now passe. The newest trend nowadays are the on line ones. These on line ones are complete and the choices in equipment has a wider range. The Internet has become a popular source for this type of catalog. The number of Camping Equipment Catalogs found on line are slowly increasing.

Camping has become a favorite past time whether one is single, with a partner or even the whole family. It is considered as a number one activity. It is time for bonding and fun in the wild. When camping, the equipments you bring can make or break the whole trip. The on line Camping Equipment Catalogs are of great help especially if one is to busy to buy on a real store. It is also a good help because these Camping Equipment Catalogs have buying guides or articles that sometimes go with every item. There are also testimonial from other campers that might have used the items.

Due to the popularity of these on line stores, it has created niches for a specific type of camping. It could be outdoor, RV and so on. It is now easier to look for equipment because the on line catalog can match specific needs. Different types of hiking boots, tents and sleeping bags are all available in Camping Equipment Catalogs.

These catalogs have become competitive among each other. They have added different leading manufacturers so that you can be guaranteed to have a nice camping trip. Some on line Camping Equipment Catalogs are giving away promos and discounts depending on the holiday it may fall in. You can be amaze at how much one catalog can have a different options for any specific needs. The Camping Equipment Catalogs have forms and all you have to do is to input what you need. These camping equipment catalogs are one thing that you need when get ready for a camping adventure.

Susan

Catalogs For Food Gifts

Gary Pearson asked:




Do you ever wonder on what particular product shapes up the perfect gift for your spouse or friend? Sure, you hate panic buying. You don’t like to be confused along the way either. In order to get you off the hook of any mind-boggling situation, you can ask for some food gift catalogs that several culinary-centered firms and cooking institutions offer on the web. These may be of great help so that you can make up your mind on what the food recipes and gift items are best to have.

Food gift catalogs are either given for free or sold to cooking enthusiasts, gift-seekers, moms and clients who want the latest updates about culinary trends. What are also readable are topics on housekeeping, food preparation tips, delightful gift baskets for all occasions, great recipes, raw food and organic diet choices, weight management tips, food for the brain and food that are less fattening. Cooking tips from the renowned chefs are also featured once in a while. Restaurants that ring the bell in town are also given the spotlight in catalogs. Men and women who have contributed to the development of bistro and bar scene are also being acknowledged on some pages.

Shopping can be very tricky especially when you are observing certain budget allocation. For sure, you don’t want to underestimate or overestimate your expense projection. Food gift catalogs are actually budget savers in terms of food shopping for household consumption, gift-giving and holiday celebration. When holidays are approaching, department stores and specialty shops become too crowded. To avoid the hassle of human traffic, you might just want to get your orders delivered to you at the soonest possible time. The only reference you have is the food catalog. Food experts are usually up in designing catalogs that allow shoppers to reach sound decision and center their attention on the quality and cost-effectiveness of the items on the shopping list.

Food gift catalogs make shopping very convenient and time-saving. By simply taking a peek at the products listed on the catalog and placing your choices in the shopping cart, you can get done earlier than the usual shopping time you spend personally at the department store. Holiday treats and food items are pre-packaged and priced competitively for shoppers to take advantage of. You have a wide variety of food gifts to choose such as chocolates, cookies, bread, canned goods, ginger house bread, nuts galore, wine and cheese, sugar-free desserts, truffles and waffles, coffee and tea, and a lot more. The advantage of shopping through catalogs is that the soonest you can send your orders, the earliest you can get hold of them and the more discount you enjoy on shipping charges.

Earl

September 24, 2010

Cost-Effective Catalog Printing

Colleen S. Davis asked:




When designing a catalog, many companies end up spending more money than they intended in the first place. Choosing a format for catalog printing affects the cost greatly, and often the more creative layouts can be the most expensive. The list below gives some of the common choices available when printing a catalog and separates the economical ones from the budget breakers.

1. Paper Stock
Two choices that need to be made for the paper of a catalog are for the cover and inner pages. The cover of a catalog can be either the same as the text pages or heavier. Lighter paper text will cost less, as a will uncoated vs glossy. Choosing a different cover stock than the regular text paper will also raise costs. Some choices for text include 100# text, 80# text, or 70# text. A cover stock is usually 10 pt weight.

2. Page Count
Because of the way that conventional printing presses work, choosing 8 page increments is much more cost effective than four page increments for catalog printing. For a self-cover design (the cover paper is the same as the inner pages), the best count is 8, 16, 24, or any other 8 page multiples. For plus-cover formats (the cover is different from the inner pages), the page count is separate from the cover: 4 page cover + 8 page text, 4 page cover + 16 page text, and so on are the most economical choices.

3. Trim Sizes
Catalog printers offer standard catalog sizes along with trim options, which can be costly. The cheapest trim options are 5.5×8.5 up to 6×9 or 7×10 to 9×12.

Keeping catalog costs low enough to make it a profitable venture is always important. Although, when choosing the different options available for catalog printing, a company should always keep in mind that sometimes the extra cost is worth the unique design, especially if the catalog advertises common products and needs to stand out from competitors.

Hector

September 22, 2010

How to Give Your Catalog a Makeover

Katie Marcus asked:




Generating sales using your catalogs requires at least an annual catalog makeover. For many businesses, much more frequent changes are being made on advertising materials or marketing tools.

The main thing to keep in mind during a makeover is the purpose behind catalogs: to generate customers either through catalog orders or through bringing them to the store to make purchases.

Here are a few more tips to remember when giving your makeover.

Maintain an Integrated Look

Consider printing in relation to your whole marketing plan. Websites, direct mail pieces, brochures, and poster campaigns should all work together with your newly redone catalog. In addition to reinforcing the new look, catalogs and all other advertising media should keep the look and feel of your brand, the company’s identity. Any advertising media produced for your company needs to be quickly and easily identified with your company by viewers.

Remember Your Target Audience

You must know who your customers are in order to market these effectively. The whole style of the catalog printing will need to reflect what your target market likes to see. This includes details as small as choosing the font to larger details like organization of products. Customizing your catalog printing to your customer’s preferences will ensure that customers are more likely to spend time in it once they pick it up.

Make Ordering Easy

Be sure that your catalog includes several contact methods. This should include but not be limited to: toll free phone lines for ordering or questions, website address, email address, or store location information. Order forms also fall into this category. Surprisingly enough, customers still use order forms to keep track of merchandise they would like to order as they browse the pages of your catalog. If you want to encourage readers to order through your website, be sure to put a note on the order form to that affect, perhaps including a discount code for online orders only.

Interesting yet Uncluttered Design

Keep the layout of simple, almost roomy. Sales per square inch are not necessarily the best way to judge the success of an advertising material. One common addition being made is writing editorial type articles featuring a product or designer or end-use customer story. These are a great feature to keep readers in the catalog printing long enough to see something they cannot live without.

Jeffrey

September 21, 2010

Creating a Catalog That Sells!

Mark Wemette asked:




Catalogs remain effective selling tools to promote awareness of your products, cross sell between products, and communicate about the features and benefits your products offer. They can be effective alone, or when used by a salesperson-and when done right, your customers will want to hold on to them. Keep the following basic considerations in mind when developing your catalog, to ensure that it becomes the effective sales tool you want it to be.

Who Is Your Catalog’s Audience?

As with all design, keep your audience in mind when creating a catalog. Whether the catalog will be used for business to business (B2B) or business to consumer (B2C) marketing will impact the design of your catalog greatly. Age, education level, and other factors will also influence the design.

Product, Product, Product

In a catalog, the product is the star. If using photos, make sure they’re of high quality. Consider shooting the product from multiple angles to best display its features. Put your most important products (those that generate the most profit) near the outside top corners-these are the places readers will look first. But don’t necessarily default to using photos-products can often be displayed well using illustrations or line drawings. Providing some image of the product is a good idea, however-images help provide the reader with a level of comfort that what they think they’re ordering is what they really are ordering.

Use Space Wisely

In the past, one product would often dominate a two-page spread, but this is rarely the case anymore. With shipping costs continuing to rise it’s a good idea make the most of the space you have within your catalog. To further economize and cross sell, consider grouping complementary items together, and make suggestions for products that the reader may also like. However, some items, especially higher-priced ones, are best displayed on their own page to signify their importance. Consider the purpose and the audience for the catalog when choosing how much white space to allow.

Keep Usability in Mind

Give some thought to how you will organize the catalog. Should it be organized by product type, division, or audience? A table of contents will help users find what they’re looking for; also consider adding tabs to separate sections. Color can also be used to help signify different segments. Page numbers will also help readers find items and refer back to them when they need to.

Be Concise with Copy

When writing the copy for the catalog, again consider your audience. Do you need to portray a lifestyle, or will listing the key features be sufficient? Regardless, keep the length short both to economize space and to save your reader time. A smart tactic is to talk about features and benefits. List the feature followed by a short sentence about what the feature means to the reader, how it will help them, and why that feature is important. Make sure all the relevant specifications such as size and weight are also included, when appropriate.

Leonard

September 19, 2010

Lightroom Catalogs and Folders

Filed under: Tech — Tags: , , — @ 8:37 am
philbinks asked:


Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Catalogs and folders. This video helps to explain what Lightroom Catalogs and folders are and how they are organised. This should help you decide how to manage your own Catalogs and picture folders

Todd

September 18, 2010

Brochure and Catalog Printing Saving Tips – How to Get Quality Prints Without the Staggering Costs

Bart Newman asked:




Basics of Brochure and Catalog Printing

Every business needs to design a brochure or come up with an advertising booklet to stay on top of the competition. Anyone who ventured into any business should be aware of how much time and effort this aspect of business promotion involves. After all, you want to reach a wide scope of market that could potentially turn into loyal customers. Therefore, you need to learn how to make a brochure and other advertising materials to forge your business ahead.

Business experts believe that brochures and catalogs are important business tools. When properly done, it can be used as a tool to increase your sales revenue. At its core, business brochures capture the prospects’ attention. Unless you are able to do that, you cannot possibly get your business message across. Thus, it is highly important to come up with creative and attractive flyer brochure to ensure that you can pull your target market’s interest and sway them over to your side.

Where to Avail of Brochure and Catalog Printing Services?

Designing your own business brochure or catalog is easier now more than ever. The most efficient way for you to achieve that is through researching online. There are several companies that offer cheap online booklet printing with the same quality you desired.

The best thing about availing of online services is that you have control over every aspect of making your brochure. You will have access to multiple brochure design templates and samples to pick one that you feel best represents your company. In addition, you can also choose your own design if you want something that is truly unique for your business. Most of these companies offer a massive catalog specs so you can incorporate design specifications, such as size, paper stock, colors, effects, and other minor details. Indeed, brochure and catalog printing offers you great opportunity to unleash your creativity and let your business personality shine through.

Keeping Your Costs Down

Your ability to come up with cheap booklet printing isn’t necessarily a drawback to your business. In fact, it offers a lot of distinct advantages that enable you to achieve the design you want without having to suffer for its costs. Make sure you carefully screen through each of your choices before settling for a catalog brochure printing company.

The costs are greatly reduced due to the fact that they no longer have to pay for a physical office space and the automated system with an online service enables them to cut down on human resource costs. Thus, you have to pay only for the services and the equipments used to complete your brochure and catalog printing job.

Grace

September 17, 2010

Arming Your Catalogs Against a Rainy Day

Katie Marcus asked:




Have you prepared your printed catalogs for a rainy day? Are they protected from rain, snow, dirt and even physical attacks? Well, if they are not, then it is time to know the proper way to defend your advertising material for a “rainy day”.

I have a few tips for you on how to properly do catalog printing with an eye towards protecting your catalogs from harm.

o Using thick covers – The general rule to make printed catalogs tougher is to use thick covers. People do not really think this is needed, but a thick cover for a catalog can really help protect the whole thing. Thicker covers are not merely tougher than normal paper, they usually also cover the whole catalog with a degree of security. So even if the catalog falls off, or comes into physical stress like bending and crumpling, all the inside pages will remain safe.

o Using protective shielding – You can also avail of great protective shielding or coatings for your catalog pages. Catalog printing services can actually offer adding certain moisture resistant coatings as well as UV shielding that make paper stocks glossy as well as immune to liquid. This of course protects the catalog from dirt and most kinds of moisture. You can apply this to the cover and even to all the pages of the color catalog if you want.

o Good binding techniques – Binding is also an important part in making color catalogs tough. The binding of pages is of course the catalog’s spine, and the stronger it is the better you catalog is against physical damage. The best binding technique of course is “perfect binding” since it uses adhesives, but you can also try string binding as well for a strong spine.

o Effective paper choices – You can also try managing the quality of your paper to make your color catalogs tough. With this, I mean using thick paper for all the pages of your catalog. Thicker paper is usually hard to tear, and most will stick to a good catalog bind with relative toughness. So try to specify that you want the thickest possible paper stock for your catalog to make all your pages very tough.

o Effective catalog shapes – Finally, you can also use the catalog’s shape as a way to make it tough. Yes! Printing catalogs that have uniform dimensions will result in tougher catalogs, than those that are long in some dimension or another.

This is because uniformly shaped catalogs have the ability to distribute stresses evenly throughout the document. Therefore, things are usually balanced. If long rectangle types of catalogs are subject to the same stresses, one side or corner will usually buckle first than another. So try to invest in small, almost square catalogs and not those long type catalogs. This should make them all the tougher.

Great! Now you know how to defend your color catalogs for a rainy day.

Vernon
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